Obama has abandoned transparency

Express-News Editorial Board

Updated 1:32 am, Saturday, June 23, 2012

Photo: AP

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FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2012 file photo, Attorney General Eric holder listens at right as President Barack Obama speaks about a mortgage settlement in the Eisenhower Executive Office building on the White House complex in Washington. Wednesday, President Obama refused to turn over some Justice Department documents about a botched anti-smuggling operation that allowed hundreds of guns sold in Arizona to end up in Mexico. Because of the standoff, the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee then voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2012 file photo, Attorney General Eric holder listens at right as President Barack Obama speaks about a mortgage settlement in the Eisenhower Executive Office building on the White House

As sure as the sun sets in the evening, the White House occupant will resort to that old standby “executive privilege” when the facts are likely to embarrass the administration.

Former President George W. Bush, with a hall-of-fame assist from former Vice President Dick Cheney, used the questionable tactic on numerous occasions. For example, the Bush administration notably blocked the release of visitor logs detailing meetings with industry representatives who helped craft energy policy under Cheney's direction.

And President Barack Obama didn't want to enact change on this issue. Upon taking office, he continued the fight against releasing visitor logs under the claim of executive privilege, although the Washington Post noted he eventually agreed to reveal them to settle a lawsuit.

Now, Obama has invoked executive privilege to thwart congressional demands that Attorney General Eric Holder release documents related to the disastrous Fast and Furious program, which put guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

The administration argues that Holder has released 7,600 documents, and Republicans, led by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrel Issa, R-Calif., are merely playing political games. Following the lead of Issa's committee, the full House is now expected to vote on whether Holder is in contempt of Congress.

Of course, practically everyone in Washington is playing political games. That's no excuse for hiding government documents that the public — including the opposition party — has every right to examine.

Hiding embarrassing facts is not a legitimate use of executive privilege, even if it is the most common.

Holder already has admitted that the Fast and Furious program, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms operation that allowed guns to go into Mexico through illegal channels, was misguided. ATF officials lost track of hundreds of weapons and two turned up at the scene of a Border Patrol agent's slaying in Arizona.

Holder should put all the facts on the table. Congressional investigations, which by their very nature are likely to be politically motivated, are a legitimate tool for shining a spotlight on the executive branch's job performance.

The American public is not naïve about the motivations of the players on either side of the conflict, and the public deserves a complete airing of the facts.